A/N: Well here's my 7th chapter. Please review. Sorry for crappy chapter names, it's a bitch trying to come up with 'em. And I apologize if the chapter seems rushed, more info on the bottom section of the auther's notes.

Chapter 7: Newfound Strength

Admiral Hood was sitting in his office, reading a data pad containing casualty figures, how many ships and platforms they had left, and which ones needed major repairs. He had Cortana send the specifications and such to the engineers planet side, because Cortana had said it already worked in her tests. The remaining platforms would undergo major refitting for the ability to hold the secondary cannons and also for necessary energy capacity.

Out of 300 defense platforms and each holding a capacity of 300 MAC rounds each, the Cairo had used over half of that amount. A message on the data pad told him he needed to go to the bridge.

Fleet Admiral Jakob Reiner and his fleet of 145 ships were heading for Earth. They got the distress signal that the Covenant attacked two days ago. In three hours, they would be exiting slipspace near the moon.

After the unbearable wait, his navigations officer alerted him to something strange.

"Sir! I have a Covenant fleet of approximately 340 plus over 70 support frigates! What should we do, sir?" The officer spoke frantically.

"Send shortwave transmissions to the rest of the fleet, tell them to power up all weapons, and arm all Archer pods. And prepare all anti-boarding parties, just in case." The Admiral said. "If we're going down, we sure as hell are taking some of them with us. Are they're any UNSC ships, or even platforms left?"

"I'll check sir. We have... approximately 145 ships, and 260 defense platforms." The officer replied.

"Well, we'll see what's happening there, but i still want all weapons primed and ready. Make sure the Shiva's are ready just in case."

"Yes sir."

Admiral Hood arrived at the bridge to hear whatever it was that Templar wanted. The AI greeted the Admiral when he entered.

"Hello sir, I have picked up slipspace whispers by the moon's outpost. There is a complete fleet that has been in reserve for the defense of the Inner Colonies, so they have complete power. This fleet, is commanded by Fleet Admiral Jakob Reiner. About 50 of their ships are the Halcyon class cruisers, they have 40 Harvest class missile destroyers, 20 Apoc class frigates, 20 Pennsylvania class battleships, and 10 Trafalgar class super carriers. They also have 5 repair and refit stations with them.

"10 Trafalgar super carriers? I thought the only one made was destroyed?"

"It was, but apparently, this fleet was able to get the necessary supplies to make another 10 more. They must have found another planet with substantial resources."

"Well, at any rate, I'm glad they got here. Templar, when they exit slipspace, I want you to tell them what happened and why there are so many Covenant ships here."

"Yes sir."

"Arbiter, a Human fleet of 145 vessels strong has just entered the system, they will exit the alternate dimension in 20 minutes" 'Vadumee told him.

"Well, hopefully the Humans will inform their reinforcements of our situation here. When they get here, scan their ships, I want to know what kind they are."

On the scanners of the Covenant fleet, over 100 ships appeared on screen. "Arbiter! The Human ships have entered the system, they have 50 of the Halcyon class cruisers, 40 Harvest class destroyers, 20 Apoc class frigates, 20 battleships of a type we have never encountered, and 10 Trafalgar class super carriers, and 5 repair and refit stations. When we attack the Jiralhanea forces in space, the Human reinforcements will surely be able to put up a fight."

"Well this is certainly good news. We will hold position and wait for further instructions from the Human fleet already here" The Arbiter told his subordinates.

"Yes, Arbiter."

The Arbiter wondered what kind of battleships these Humans brought with them were. They were never encountered in previous battles. Had they another system, with more resources? With more power than they previously thought? Did they have even more numbers? The Arbiter pondered this for awhile before he went to his private quarters to rest. He assumed he would get the details sooner or later.

"Admiral, we have an incoming transmission on the D- Band. Receiving now."

"This is the Cairo Station on board AI Templar. Welcome, Admiral, you have a lot to catch up on. For starters, the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters have broken off from the Covenant. They now call themselves The Reclaiming Glory. They have 3 fleets with them, all except one have combat damage."

"We have worked out negotiations with them, and have formed a temporary alliance until we finish off the remaining forces that follow the Prophets. Master Chief has killed two of their leadership caste, and the Flood have claimed another. From what the Elites tell us, the Covenant have no leader at the moment, as they are relying on lower status Prophets to guide them.

"AI Templar, I thank you for the information. I will inform my fleet of the current situation. If anyone needs repairs, excluding the Reclaiming Glory forces, my fleet's repair stations should be able to fit your needs."

"Thank you, Fleet Admiral. We have 57 ships in need of restocking munitions and repairs" The AI replied

"Lieutenant Sunders, send the information of the Covenant to all of our ships. Do not attack the Covenant ships here. And have our refit stations prepare for full operational capacity."

"Aye, sir."

The next day, after restocking damaged ships with ammunition and hull plating, the fleet commanders were all on board the Cairo. In the Secondary Conference room, used for planning battle tactics and fleet assembly, were all of the Human Admirals, excluding Fleet Admiral David Harper. The 4 Spartans, Reclaiming Glory Fleet Masters Daso 'Furnumee, Duso 'Furnumee, Baru Sotoramee, the Arbiter, Spec Ops Commander Rtas 'Vadumee, and Councilor Nola 'Klazumee were also there.

Fleet Admiral Reiner started with, "where exactly would be the best place to strike the Covenant? We need to cut the Prophets off from their supply of troops, I understand that. But should we attack the Prophet homeworld, cutting off the rest of their forces from their leadership, or the Brute homeworld, cutting off the leaders from their most valuable source of troops? Arbiter, any thoughts?"

"It is a hard decision. If we destroy the Prophet's homeworld, then the Jiralhanea will be in charge. And they have very poor tactics, as do the Prophets. But if we destroy the Jiralhanea homeworld, the Prophets will be left with only the remaining Jiralhanea they have. I would attack the Jiralhanea homeworld. The leadership will not send ships to a world they think is safe. They have heavy defenses at their own homeworld anyway. So your forces will need many more ships before we can even think about assaulting the Prophets' own planet. The same goes to my fleets."

Then 'Sotoramee interrupted. "We will have to go to our planet in order to coordinate with our council, and to build more ships. It will take only a week to build another 100 or so ships. Our Huragok and Hunagok are very fast workers. And the Sangheili that train in technical duties are able to install hull plating and plasma cannons quickly as well."

"Well, it's no wonder why you have so many ships. It takes us at least a month to build a full 100 ships at operational capacity. But, at any rate, that is no longer possible since the destruction at reach. Now we must rely on the Alpha Centuari system for replacement vessels."

"Now, I know you have given us the ability to produce shields big enough for our ships, and we now know how to make plasma cannons, but we still need slipspace drives that can keep up with yours. A trip that would take you two days journey, would most likely take us 4. Surely you can understand my intentions."

Dosu 'Furnumee then replied to the Admiral. "Yes, i can understand your intentions, but we need the Councils approval. They understand that we need each others help if we are, as a species, to survive, but they are not fool enough to just give away something. Councilor 'Klazumee here has approved giving you the capabilities for ship borne shielding and plasma weaponry, but we need the Councils full approval for the slipspace drives."

"Well, let all of our fleets depart for Sangheil, our home world. We will leave in 3 hours for our system. I will transmit the coordinates before we leave, Admiral. So prepare to mobilize. However, before you enter our system, we will alert the Councilors to your intentions so they do not fire upon you. Although, your forces will have to leave when ours do, so that you will arrive on time. It will be a long journey. However, the Forerunner ship you captured, that only takes half the time ours would, so it will have to jump at least a few days after your forces." 'Sotoramee finished.

"Very good. I shall ready our forces for a slipspace journey. We will await for your transmission, 'Sotoramee" concluded Lord Hood.

And with that, the Elites walked out of the room, bound once again for their commanding ships. The Spartans were told to go to the Rising Ascension. Some of the Elites translated the computer screens on the ship so Humans would be able to pilot it.

Afterwards, a fleet of Pelicans, Warthogs, Scorpions, Raptors, Longswords, and finally, Albatross' were loaded onto the ship for ground support. Also, an entire brigade of Marines and a regiment of Hell Jumpers were able to fit onto the ship without causing crew problems. Something that probably couldn't even be done on Covenant ships.

After all ships, Human and Reclaiming Glory, made their way to Sangheil, the Human and Sangheili commanders had to go to the Council Chambers on the planet. After the meeting between the leaders, it was agreed. An attack on the Jiralhanea homeworld was formulated with the help of Cortana. The RG forces would go in first, disguising themselves by telling the enemy forces that video communications was not possible due to a recent battle. Then, the Human forces would jump to the other side of the planet. The Sangheili ships would then open fire when the Jiralhanea ships went to engage. In order not to attack friendly ships, Cortana installed an FoF ID tag on every allied ship. After the battle, reinforcements would be sent in order to bolster the forces after conflict. With over 400 RG ships, and about 290 Human vessels, the attack would surely be victorious.

A/N: Just a snippet of the original chapter. I have to go away from my house for awhile so I won't be able to complete the chapter in at least a week. But still, I would like reviews.